Web-Based Collaborative Framework

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for facilitating network communications. Briefly described, one embodiment of the system, among others, includes a server-based application configured to produce web pages for a web site in accordance with input received from a user; and an interface to the server-based application receiving selections of features which are available to be added to the web site in response to user prompts and to set access rights on which features are to be available to different roles of users. Other systems and methods are also provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to network communicationsand, more particularly, is related to facilitation of networkcommunications.

BACKGROUND

Within a business enterprise or corporation, organizations and projectsoften have team members that are geographically dispersed. To facilitatecommunication amongst members in order to manage documents, collaborate,communicate to people across different states, across departments, etc.,web-based communication tools are available but they are generallycumbersome and require a high level of technical skills to manage andmaintain. Another option for facilitating communications is to utilizeshared network folders and directories within a network file system, butindividual members often struggle to map shared folders to a local driveon a client machine.

With regard to the World Wide Web, although it has become a highlyintegrated resource for information sharing, many people are limited incapabilities due to their lack of web development/programming skills.For example, a user may be in charge of operating a web site where theuser does not have his or her own development team for the web site.This user may also not have the technical knowledge for managing the website using conventional techniques. A non-technical user may be incharge of architected applications that need to consume network data butdoes not have the capabilities for managing this task with presenttools.

Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to addressthe aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods forfacilitating network communications. Briefly described, one embodimentof the system, among others, includes a server-based applicationconfigured to produce web pages for a web site in accordance with inputreceived from a user; and an interface to the server-based applicationreceiving selections of features which are available to be added to theweb site in response to user prompts and to set access rights on whichfeatures are to be available to different roles of users.

Embodiment of the present disclosure can also be viewed as providingmethods for facilitating network communications. In this regard, oneembodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarized bythe following steps: receiving settings and preferences to for producinga web site; receiving access levels assignments for visitors to the website that determine which functions are enabled when a visitor visitsthe web site via the web interface; and building the web site inaccordance with the settings, preferences, and access levels.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art uponexamination of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, features, andadvantages be included within this description and be within the scopeof the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an Internet based system upon which oneembodiment, among others, of the collaborative workspace system of thepresent disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a web server utilized in anembodiment of the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system for accessingworkspace web sites and other documents from a web server utilized inthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a screenshot diagram of a web interface to an “eworkspace”application utilized within the system of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5-32 are screenshot diagrams of web pages from a workspace sitebuilt using the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating the functionality of arepresentative implementation of one embodiment of the collaborativeworkspace system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a process forfacilitating network communications in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure now will be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments of thedisclosure may include many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These embodiments areintended to convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in theart. Furthermore, all “examples” given herein are intended to benon-limiting.

Components of a collaborative workspace system of the present disclosurecan be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or a combinationthereof. In one embodiment of the disclosure, which is intended to be anon-limiting example, system components are implemented in software thatis executed by a computer, for example, but not limited to, a personalcomputer, mainframe computer, workstation, etc.

An embodiment of the software-based system, which comprises an orderedlisting of executable instructions for implementing logical functions,can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by, or inconnection with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or devicesuch as a computer-based system processor-containing system, or othersystem that can fetch the instructions from the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In thecontext of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any meansthat can contain, store, communicate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus ordevice. The computer-readable medium can be, for example, but notlimited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared,or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (anonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include thefollowing: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory(RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) (magnetic), anoptical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disk read-only memory(CD ROM) (optical).

The collaborative workspace system allows rapid deployment of aweb-based project site for an organization or any group, including anenterprise organization. Embodiments of the collaborative workspacesystem provide a project team or group the ability to easily shareinformation on their project while leveraging the web to allow foruniversal access. With very little web development skills,administrators of a project web site can quickly customize their site tofit the needs of their project, project team, and leadershipstakeholders.

In some embodiments, the collaborative workspace system of the presentdisclosure is implemented with use of a communication network, such asthe Internet—although a private Intranet may also be used. As such, abrief description and explanation of terms associated with the Internetfollow. A browser, or “web” browser, allows for simple graphical userinterface (GUI) access to network servers, which support documentsformatted as so-called web pages. The World Wide Web (WWW), or “web”, isa collection of servers on the Internet that utilize a HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTP), which is an application protocol that providesusers access to files (which can be in different formats such as text,graphics, images, sound, video, etc.) using a Standard GeneralizedMarkup Language (SGML). SGML is an information management standard forproviding platform-independent and application-independent documentsthat retain formatting, indexing, and linking information. SGML providesa grammar-like mechanism for users to define the structure of theirdocuments and the tags they will use to denote the structure inindividual documents. The page description language known as HypertextMarkup Language (HTML) is an application of SGML. HTML provides basicdocument formatting of text and images and allows the developer tospecify hyperlinks, or “links,” to other servers and files.

Use of an HTML-compliant client, such as a web browser, involvesspecification of an address via a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Uponsuch specification, the client makes a TCP/IP request to the serveridentified in the URL and receives a “web page” (namely, a documentformatted according to HTML) in return.

By way of example and illustration, FIG. 1 illustrates an Internet basedsystem upon which one embodiment, among others, of the collaborativeworkspace system 100 of the present disclosure may be implemented. Itshould be noted that while the present disclosure providesimplementation of the collaborative workspace 100 within an Internetbased system, the collaborative workspace 100 need not be provided viause of the Internet. Instead, one of reasonable skill in the art willappreciate that the collaborative workspace system 100 may beimplemented within other mediums, such as, for example, but not limitedto, a local area network, or wide area network.

Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of networks 121 a, 121 b are shownwherein each network 121 a, 121 b includes multiple digital processors133 a, 135 a, 137 a, and 133 b, 135 b, 137 b, respectively. Digitalprocessors 133 a, 133 b, 135 a, 135 b, 137 a, 137 b may include, but arenot limited to, personal computers, mini computers, laptops, and thelike. Each digital processor 133 a, 133 b, 135 a, 135 b, 137 a. 137 bmay be coupled to a host processor or server 131 a, 131 b forcommunication among processors 133 a, 133 b, 135 a, 135 b, 137 a, 137 bwithin the specific corresponding network 121 a, 121 b.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the host processor or server 131a, 131 b is coupled to a communication line 141 that interconnects orlinks the networks 121 a, 121 b to each other, thereby forming anInternet. As such, each of the networks 121 a, 121 b are coupled alongthe communication line 141 to enable access from a digital processor 133a, 135 a, 137 a of one network 121 a to a digital processor 133 b, 135b, 137 b of another network 121 b. Various end-user servers 139 a, 139b, two of which are shown as an example, are linked to the communicationline 141, thus providing end-users with access to the Internet.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a workspace web site 110 (andapplications provided by the workspace web site 110) may be maintainedon a web server 151 that is connected to the Internet for communicationamong the various networks 121 a, 121 b and/or digital processors 133 a,133 b, 135 a, 135 b, 137 a, 137 b and other end-users connected to theInternet via respective end-user servers 139 a, 139 b. In someembodiments, an “eworkspace” application 105 is maintained on the webserver 151 that builds the workspace web site 110 on demand from a user.Other web server(s) 152 also maintain web site(s) 112 and/orapplications external to web server 151.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that further illustrates the web server 151 ofFIG. 1. As shown by FIG. 2, the web server 151 comprises a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 262 having a program controller 264 and eworkspaceapplication 105 for building a workspace implementing a workspace website 110. The program controller 264 is capable of performingfunctionality required by the collaborative workspace system 100, asdescribed in detail hereinbelow. The web server 151 also comprises a webserver database 272, which holds data necessary to enable the web server151 to customize a workspace site 110 in accordance with settings orpreferences associated with a particular project team or group. Itshould be noted that other information may be stored within the webserver database 272 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system 300 foraccessing workspace web sites and other documents from web server 151.As shown in FIG. 3, the system 300 comprises general-purpose computers302, 304, 306 that are coupled to a server 310 over a network such asthe Internet 320. The communication network 320 provides access toInternet services such as email, file transfer protocols (FTP), WorldWide Web (WWW), Internet Relay Chat (IRC), etc. and newsgroups, such asUsenet, among others. The server 310 is coupled to a database 315 thatstores profiles of members in an organization, such as utilized by anenterprise directory. In one embodiment, an enterprise directory followsthe Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

In the operating environment shown in FIG. 3, a user of ageneral-purpose computer 306 (or other computing device such as apersonal digital assistant) attempts to access stored applications onthe computer 306 and network services from the network 320. As shown inFIG. 3, the general-purpose computer 306 includes a processor 352, anetwork interface 360, memory 354, a local storage device 358, and a bus356 that permits communication between the various components. While notexplicitly shown, it should be appreciated that the other computers 302,304 may also include similar components that facilitate computation orexecution of applications on the computers 302, 304. In someembodiments, among others, the local storage device 358 is a hard driveconfigured to electronically store data. The local storage device 358may also store computer programs that execute on the computer 306. Inthis sense, the processor 352 is configured to access any program thatis stored on the local storage device 358, and execute the program withthe assistance of the memory 354.

The network interface 360 is configured to provide an interface betweenthe general-purpose computer 306 and the network 320. Thus, the networkinterface 360 provides the interface for the computer 306 to receive anydata that may be entering from the network 320 and, also, to transmitany data from the computer 306 to the network 320. Specifically, in someembodiments, the network interface 360 is configured to permitcommunication between each of the computers 302, 304, 306 and the server310 and, additionally, to permit communication between the computers302, 304, 306 themselves. In this regard, the network interface 360 maybe a modem, a network card, or any other interface that communicativelycouples each of the computers 302, 304, 306 to the network 320. Sincevarious network interfaces are known in the art, further discussion ofthese components is omitted here.

The memory 354 can include any one or combination of volatile memoryelements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, etc.))and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM,etc.). Moreover, the memory 354 may incorporate electronic, magnetic,optical, and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory 354can have a distributed architecture, where various components aresituated remote from one another, but can be accessed by the processor352.

The software in memory 354 may include one or more separate programs,each of which comprises an ordered listing of executable instructionsfor implementing logical functions. In the example of FIG. 3, thesoftware in the memory 354 includes a web browser application 380 and anoperating system (O/S) 370. The operating system 370 controls theexecution of other computer programs, and provides scheduling,input-output control, file and data management, memory management, andcommunication control and related services.

The I/O devices 390 may include input devices, for example but notlimited to, a keyboard, mouse, scanner, digital camera, multi-functiondevice, digital sender, microphone, etc. Furthermore, the I/O devices390 may also include output devices, for example but not limited to, aprinter, display, etc. Finally, the I/O devices 390 may further includedevices that communicate both inputs and outputs, for instance but notlimited to, a modulator/demodulator (modem; for accessing anotherdevice, system, or network), a radio frequency (RF) or othertransceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, etc.

The software in the memory 354 may further include a basic input outputsystem (BIOS) (omitted for simplicity). The BIOS is a set of softwareroutines that initialize and test hardware at startup, start the O/S370, and support the transfer of data among the hardware devices. TheBIOS is stored in ROM so that the BIOS can be executed when the computer306 is activated.

When the computer 306 is in operation, the processor 352 is configuredto execute software stored within the memory 354, to communicate data toand from the memory 354, and to generally control operations of thecomputer 306 pursuant to the software. The web browser 380 and the O/S370, in whole or in part, are read by the processor 352, perhapsbuffered within the processor 352, and then executed.

Referring back to FIG. 1, within one embodiment of the collaborativeworkspace system 100, an eworkspace application 105 is executed by theserver 151. One function of the eworkspace application 105 is to makeadministrative assignments to members within an enterprise organization.In one embodiment, the enterprise has an enterprise or corporatedirectory of organization members. Therefore, at least one member isassigned as a super administrator for the enterprise using theeworkspace application 105. As long as a user is a registered of thedirectory (such as an employee, contractor, partner to the enterprise),then he or she can be assigned as a super administrator for theeworkspace application 105. The super administrator can manage andadministrate each workspace site created or built with a framework ofthe eworkspace application 105. For example, the super administrator cancreate new workspaces or delete existing workspaces.

To set up an individual workspace, the super administrator initiallyassigns a member in the directory as a local administrator for aparticular workspace project or site. Each workspace created by theeworkspace application 105 has one or more local administrators thatmanage resources for the individual workspace. An existing localadministrator may also assign another member of the enterprise as a newlocal administrator to the workspace.

Referring now to FIG. 4, while a user is browsing content on theInternet (or some other communication network) via a browser application380 (FIG. 3), the user may select links or applications (e.g., content)provided by a web page that takes the user away from the current webpage. Further, the user may manually enter a web site into the addressbar of his or her web browsing application or select a saved URL that isstored in a list of URL's (such as a bookmark file).

In the present example, a user browses to a web page interface 410 tothe eworkspace application 105. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the usercan scroll a list of workspaces that have been created using theeworkspace application 105 and are provided in a dropdown menu 420within the interface 410. All of the different sites listed in the menu420 have been created using the same framework authoring tool within theeworkspace application 105.

Based on chosen options within this framework that have been designatedfor a particular workgroup project, the eworkspace application 105 onthe server 151 assembles the web pages that are delivered to a webbrowser of a user visiting a workspace site 110. These options are ableto be set without advanced HMTL skills of the administrator(s) for theworkspace. For most options, radio buttons may be selected to turn theassociated option off or on.

Referring back to FIG. 4, a user selects a workspace to visit entitled“Demo Workspace” 430 in the present example. It is noted that one of theavailable options below the dropdown menu is an Administrator Log In440. After the user selects the “Demo Workspace” 430 from the dropdownmenu 420, a home web page for the Demo Workspace is displayed via theuser's browser application 105.

As shown in FIG. 5, content for the home page 510 is shown in a mainarea 520 of the web page 510 and a navigation pane 530 is displayed onthe left side. Within the content displayed in the main portion 520 ofthe web page 510, informative text 522 is displayed, a survey 524 isdisplayed, and journal entries 526 are displayed. These may be easilyconfigured by a local administrator of the Demo Workspace. In thescreenshot view shown in FIG. 5, a public view of the web page 510 isbeing shown.

This public view may be seen by users who have not logged in andauthenticated themselves as members of the enterprise organization. Incomparison, FIG. 6 shows a private view of the same web page. Theprivate view is activated when users log in as a member of theenterprise. In this example, an alert message 610 is shown in privateview that is not shown in the public view. Therefore, an administratorcan have a message delivered to members of the organization when thepage is viewed that is not provided to non-members.

To create a new workspace, there are certain key data elements that needto be set up by an administrator to the workspace. For example, in FIG.6, a member accessing the site has highlighted the “Manage Site” option620 shown in the navigation pane 630 (e.g., positioning a mouse controlover the link and depressing the left mouse button, etc.). This option620 allows an administrator to access administrative options forconfiguring the “Demo Workspace.”

Accordingly, the next figure (FIG. 7) shows a log-in interface 710 wherea user is prompted to input his or her username, which is a uniqueidentification code in some embodiments for members of the enterprise.If the user is authenticated to be a member with administrativeprivileges, then the user is granted access to administrative tools forconfiguring a workspace site, as shown in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 8, various options are provided for configuring settings andoptions associated with the Demo Workspace of the present example. Byselecting a link and associated radio buttons or by entering text,different capabilities of a site configured for a workspace may beenabled.

If the General Preferences link 810 is selected from the navigation pane830 of the workspace site, a web page demonstrated in FIG. 9 isdisplayed, in one embodiment. Here, an administrator can specify globalsite configuration values for the workspace.

In the example shown, an administrator has specified “Demo Workspace” asthe Site Name 910 that is associated with the workspace and “DemoWorkspace” as the Site Display Name 920 that is displayed at the top ofthe first page of the workgroup site, as shown in FIG. 5. Also, welcometext or other descriptive information is prompted to be provided in aPublic Mission Statement box 932 and a Private Mission Statement box940. Accordingly, information inputted in the Public Mission Statementbox will be shown to public users and the Private Mission Statement boxwill be provided to private users or users that have been authenticatedas members of the enterprise organization.

The person that is regarded as the owner or the site administrator isalso prompted to be specified as Site Owner 950 along with a SiteContact Email 960 and Contact Owner UID (unique identification code)970. This person can receive emails from visitors to the site.

In some embodiments, options are provided for pre-configured colorschemes and design that is regarded as a “Look and Feel” 980.Accordingly, the administrator can select a radio button for a look andfeel associated with “Technology Community” or “Customer Markets” orchoose “Other” if they would like to have another scheme.

Another configurable option 990 is to choose whether to allow guests tothe site to have access or to require users to log-in as members to theenterprise organization. Also, there is the option 995 of allowinglogged-in members to upload documents to the workspace site and anoption 992 implementing password authentication. By default, onlyadministrators can upload documents in one embodiment unless thissetting is modified.

Another option 997 is provided for specifying an alternate URL addressto the home page for the workspace. Accordingly, if a URL is provided,then when a user selects the “Home” link 998 in the navigation pane 930,the web page associated with the alternate URL is retrieved.

For example, if the workspace site is a sub-site to another site and thedesire is to send visitor to the higher level site's home page insteadof this sub-site's home page, this option 997 may be used. Otherwise,the home page is set to be the first page (see FIG. 5 or 6) of theworkspace site as a default.

Another option 999 is to allow the site name of the work space in aglobal dropdown menu 420 of workspace sites, as shown in FIG. 4.

Referring back to FIG. 8, if the administrator selects the Site Toolsand Capabilities Link 820, a web page depicted in FIG. 10 is shown.Here, the administrator has the ability to turn on or off sitecapabilities by toggling radio buttons, such as capabilities involvedwith the Document Repository 1010 (area where files may be uploaded anddownloaded), Common Links 1020 (area where URLs of web pages may beprovided), Public Message Board 1030, Private Message Board 1040,Newsletter 1050, Journal 1055, Calendar 1058, and areas of the workspacesite for Team Members 1060, Subteams 1070, including deciding whether toprovide tools for these functions/areas to everyone, members only, oradministrative members only.

Next, in FIG. 11, content for alert messages may be configured, whereone alert message may be displayed to guests during a public view of theworkspace site and another alert message may be displayed to members ina private view of the site. The web page 1110 shown in FIG. 11 isdisplayed via a web browser application 380 in response to selection ofthe Alert Messages link 832 in FIG. 8.

If text for an alert message is inputted in the appropriate input box1120, then across the top of a web page of all the pages of theworkspace site, the alert message will be displayed for guests of thesite in public view. Guests are users of the site that are not membersregistered in the directory of the enterprise organization. Likewise, iftext for an alert message is inputted in the input box 1130, the messageis displayed at the top of pages of the site in private viewing bymembers of the enterprise organization.

For example, in the figure, text has been provided for the AlertMessages for Members box 1130. The text is “sdfgsd.” Accordingly, in thefigure, the alert message is shown at the top of the web site (asindicated by pointer 1140), since this page is only accessible by a userwho is a member and has administrative privileges.

Therefore, the administrator is provided the ability to create a commonmessage that may be placed at the top of all web pages and viewed bywhatever audience is desired by the administrator, whether it be apublic or private view. To update content of the alert messages, theUpdate Alert Messages button 1150 may be selected.

Referring back to FIG. 5, a survey 524 was referenced. To configure sucha survey, the Survey management link 840 in FIG. 8 may be selected tocause the web page in FIG. 12 to be shown. Here, an administrator cancreate a survey for his or her workspace site and integrate it into thesite easily.

As shown, the administrator is prompted to input a survey question intobox 1210 and choices for responding to the question into box 1220.Options 1230 are also provided for making the survey active so that itis currently viewable by others and for choosing to display the surveyon the front page of the site 1240. The option 1250 of showing thecurrent results of the survey is also provided. Additional options alsoprovide the ability to archive a survey and view survey results 1270(e.g., percentage by response, number of votes by response, bar chart),ability to edit existing surveys 1280, and the ability to deleteexisting surveys 1290. In some embodiments, additional abilities areprovided, such as the ability to export survey results to Excel®spreadsheet application, as provided by Microsoft Corporation.

In addition to site capabilities, management tools involving determiningwhich people visit the site and how they use site data is provided, insome embodiments. For example, selection of the Manage Site Users link850 provided in FIG. 8 displays a page shown in FIG. 13. Here, membersfor the project team associated with the workspace site may be added,edited, or deleted.

To add a new member to the team, a search of the directory of anenterprise may be performed by specifying name information for a userinto input boxes 1310 or by inputting the member's UID into theappropriate input box 1320. For preexisting team members, a member'sUser Role may be changed (e.g., going from member to administrativeuser, going from guest to team member, etc.) by selecting the memberfrom a dropdown menu of members 1330 and selecting the Edit User Rolebutton 1350.

To delete a user from the team, the name of the user may be selectedfrom a dropdown menu of members 1360 and the Delete User button 1370 maybe selected. Additional interface windows or pages may then be displayedto complete the editing or deletion processes.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, to be a member to the workspace, auser has to be registered in a directory of users, such as an employer'sdirectory. An administrator can also assign some members to teams andsubteams that have heightened access privileges as compared to a regularmember (who has higher access privileges than a guest). Note, teammembership to the workspace includes additional user data to bemaintained separately from the directory that is general to all membersof the enterprise organization that are registered in the directory.

Referring back to FIG. 8, selection of the Manage Team Member List 860causes a page shown in FIG. 14 to be displayed, in one embodiment. Thispage provides the ability to view a list of users that can be added asteam members; the ability to view team members and their associatedcontact information (e.g., name, title, email, iPager®, phone number;the ability to click on team members name to link to directory XXX toretrieve and reveal additional information on the individual; theability to click to send an email or send a pager message (“iPage”) toan individual; and the ability to send an email or to send pagermessages (“iPage”) to the entire team list, and ability to download asoft copy of the team list for printing or distribution.

In addition to workspace teams, subteams may also be defined. To createa new subteam, the Manage Subteams link 870 in FIG. 8 may be selectedwhich causes the page shown in FIG. 15 to be displayed, in oneembodiment. Using this interface, members can be added or removed fromsubteams. Also, the Manage Subteams page 1510 also provides the abilityto view subteams of team members; the ability to send an email or pagermessage to a selected subteam; the ability to create subteams; and theability to assign team members to one or more subteams.

By selecting the Manage Common Links link 880 from the SiteAdministration page shown in FIG. 8, an interface is provided as shownin FIG. 16. Here, a Name 1610 for an external web site may be inputted,the URL may be provided in box 1620, and a checkbox 1632 may beactivated if it is desired for the URL to be shown in a common linksarea or a checkbox 1640 may be selected if it is desired for the URL tobe displayed on the left navigation pane 1630 of the site.

For example, a site named PeopleFinder 1650 has been provided as acommon link and is displayed on the left side of the page shown in FIG.16. In this way, certain key links may be provided so that everyone hasquick access to them. As shown, tools 1660 are also provided for editingor deleting preexisting links by selecting a link from a dropdown menu.

Message boards are also provided within the workgroup sites built usingthe framework provided by the eworkspace application 105. As previouslydiscussed with regard to the Configure Site Tools page of FIG. 10,private and public message boards may be configured to be providedwithin a workspace site.

Within a message board, users can start and participate in discussionsabout topics pertinent to the project space. To manage the content ofthe public message board, the Manage Public Message Board link 885 maybe selected by an administrator in FIG. 8. This causes the page shown inFIG. 17 to be displayed, in one embodiment.

Here, the administrator is provided the options of editing or deletingindividual posts by selecting an Edit link 1710 or Delete link 1720 nextto the particular post. Likewise, by selecting the Manage PrivateMessage Board link 888 in FIG. 8, posts within the Private Message Boardmay also be edited or deleted. In the particular example, the page shownin FIG. 18 is displayed in response to selection of the Manage PrivateMessage Board link 888 but no posts have been made by any users in thecurrent example, and therefore there are no posts available to beedited.

It is to be noted that each of the pages shown in the figures has aconsistent look and feel for a “Customer Markets” corporate scheme thatwas selected by the administrator as an option in FIG. 9. Further, noHTML or advanced web design skills have been needed by the administratorto configure the workspace site.

Also, in some embodiments, pieces of administrative functionality areembedded in some of the tools themselves and are displayed whenever auser has sufficient access privileges.

For example, if an administrator selects the Document Repository link1810 from the navigation page 1830 on the left of the page, the web pagefor the document repository area is shown, as shown in FIG. 19. However,since the user has administrative privileges, options 1910 are providedto delete/rename/move directories and files provided in the repository.

Accordingly, if a user is a member to the site and is not a guest, thena repository 1912 for Private Documents is enabled to be viewed.Otherwise, only the repository 1913 for Public Documents is shown.

In this example, the administrator is the only user authorized to uploaddocuments since the option from the General Preferences page (see FIG.8) was not enabled for other users. Once a file is uploaded, the filesize and date that the file was uploaded is provided and displayed onthe web page. This lets everyone else know which file is the latestversion to be uploaded, for example. Additional tools 1920 allows nestedfolders to be created and headers to be sorted. Accordingly, theworkspace site provides the ability to upload, delete, rename and movedocuments/folders; the ability to create add, delete, rename and movedirectories; the ability to view Private documents when authenticatedinto the site; the ability to view the file structure including foldersand files (including size and last change date); and the ability to sortview of file structure by name, size and last change date, in one ormore embodiments.

Referring back to the left navigation pane 1930, selection of the TeamMembers link 1932 causes a page shown in FIG. 20 to be displayed via theweb browser application 380. Here, current team members are displayedwith descriptive information (e.g., job titles) and contact information.By selecting the Broadcast Email All link 2010, users can broadcastemails to all team members (instead of having to keep distribution listsupdated). Likewise to send messages to all team member's pagers, theiPage All link 2020 may be selected. Also, to send a direct message toan individual team member, the email address 2032 or the iPager address2040 for the individual may be selected.

In one embodiment, this causes an application, such as Outlook®application provided by Microsoft Corporation, to be opened that hasbeen associated by the browser application and operating system withthat particular type of messaging format. Likewise, to view thedisplayed information in an Excel® spreadsheet document, the View inExcel® link 2050 may be selected. With the Excel® spreadsheet document,the document may be saved in an electronic file or printed as a hardcopy.

Selection of a member's name 2060 causes data, such as contactinformation for the member, to be retrieved from the directory anddisplayed.

Similarly, information for subteams may be viewed by selecting theSubteams link 2070 from the navigation pane 2030. In the example shownin FIG. 21, members for three subteams (iServices Development, stuff,and TEST) are shown. For each, links are provided to: email each memberof a subteam (via Email Subteam links 2110); send messages to pagerdevices (via iPage Subteam links 2120), and view the subteam informationin an Excel spreadsheet (via View in Excel links 2132). Also, a link2140 is provided to broadcast an email to all team members (e.g, theBroadcase email to all team members link).

To view external links to web pages, a user can select the Common Linkslink 2150 in the left navigation pane 2130 to cause a page of externallinks to be provided, as shown in FIG. 22. An external link 2205 canpoint to any internet or intranet web page or document. Also, aspreviously mentioned, a workspace site may also have a common link thathas been added as a common navigation link across all pages of the site,as demonstrated by the PeopleFinder link 2210 in the navigation pane2230.

For viewing the public message board area of the worksgroup site (asshown in FIG. 23), a user can select the Public Message Board link 2220may be selected from the left navigation pane 2230. Similarly, to viewthe private message board area of the worksgroup site (as shown in FIG.24), the Private Message Board link 2230 may also be selected (if thelogged in user has appropriate access rights).

Within the message board areas, some embodiments provide the abilitiesto post a discussion topic; to post a reply to a discussion topic; topost a reply to an existing reply; to view a listing of discussiontopics and the number of replies; to delete individual replies; and todelete an entire discussion topic and all posted replies. Within a post,links to external or internal web content may also be provided.

For newsletter functions, the Newsletters link 2410 in the navigationpane may be selected which will cause a page to be retrieved having thecurrent newsletters, as shown in FIG. 25. Here, a list 2510 ofnewsletters is shown with the respective status 2520 of each. Also, forusers that have the appropriate administrative privileges, links 2530are provided to edit or delete current newsletters or to reorder how thenewsletters are displayed. Also, a link 2540 is provided to create a newnewsletter.

If an individual newsletter is selected, such as the TechnologyInfo—Week of Jan. 30, 2006 newsletter 2550, then the contents for thenewsletter is shown in a new page, such as that shown in FIG. 26.Accordingly, links 2610 are provided to access individual articlescontained in the newsletter.

Similarly to the previous figure, a user with sufficient accessprivileges can edit or delete articles within the newsletter and alsoreorder how articles are displayed by using the Edit/Delete links 2620and Reorder links 2630. To create a new article, the Create New Articlelink 2640 may be activated. This results in an a full HTML editorembedded in a page to be displayed so that a user do styling (such asbold text), embed pictures, etc. One embodiment of the HTML editor 2710is shown in FIG. 27.

Selection of the See Formatted View link 2650 in FIG. 26 causes an HTMLformatted view of the newsletter to be displayed, as shown in FIG. 28.Within this document, key links 2810 into main topics of that newslettermay be provided. Also, the formatted view may be emailed to others.

Thus, one embodiment of the workspace site provides abilities to createa collection of articles into a newsletter; to delete existingnewsletters; to archive existing newsletters; to view a newsletter in anHTML view with a common layout design and graphics applied; to re-ordernewsletters; and to re-order articles in a newsletter. Further, someembodiments provide the ability to select primary image for newsletterand the ability to publish and consume newsletter articles into othersites (e.g., XML (eXtensible Markup Language) Feed).

Journal functionality is similar to the newsletters and may be accessedby selecting the Journal link 2720 on the navigation pane 2730, in someembodiments. As shown in FIG. 29, a web page for journals displays amost recent journal entry 2910 and also provides a link 2920 to accessolder journal entries. For users that have sufficient privilege, tools2930 are provided to edit or delete journal content.

In some embodiments, a full HTML editor may be provided to create a newjournal entry, as shown in FIG. 30. A “Sample Journal Entry” 3110 isshown in FIG. 31.

In one embodiment, a workspace site can be configured to provideabilities that include publishing zero to many articles; displayingjournal entry headlines on the home page of the site; creating, editing,deleting and archiving articles; having stylized text in articles (e.g.,bold, underline, italicized, hyperlinked); to embed pictures in articles(with/without hyperlinks); embedding tables in articles; having listswithin articles; and publishing and consuming journal headlines intoother sites (e.g., XML Feed).

By accessing the Contact Us link 3120 provided on the navigation pane3130, a user of the site can provide comments for the site administratoror owner. As shown in FIG. 32 (which was retrieved in response toactivation of link 3110), a user can fill out a form that uses the emailaddress 960 provided in the Manage Site preferences for the Owner of thesite to receive questions or comments from visitors to the site.

Additional functionality may be provided in workspace sites built by theeworkspace application 105. For example, a framework authoring tool ofthe eworkspace application can enable workspace sites built by theeworkspace application to have the abilities to view a calendarapplication for a workspace. In one embodiment, the calendar applicationshows a current month as well as previous/next month, allows users toview events contained on the calendar, and add events to the calendar.Also, the ability to send event notification to an individual orteam/subteam is provided by the calendar application which can beintegrated with client applications, such as Outlook®.

Also, in some embodiments, a photo album application is able to beprovided in workspace sites. Accordingly, abilities to create/deletephoto albums; to categorize photo albums; to upload/delete images andreference information; to manage image metadata; to rate images, tocomment on images; and to send image as a postcard are provided by oneembodiment of the calendar application.

Advantageously, in accordance with one embodiment, workspace sites maybe built such that site content may be exposed for other applications toconsume. For example, newsletter and journal functionality may beexposed for other applications to consume RSS (Really SimpleSyndication) newsfeeds, where the newsfeeds exist in predictable URLswith configurable parameters for the number of stories or articles thatare desired to be retrieved.

In this way, other applications can display a workspace's journalentries or newsletter articles in a customized list in an XML format tobe programmatically rendered in another application. For example, anexternal web page can display content, such as articles from a workspacesite, by linking to the content to the workspace site.

Accordingly, the workspace site built by the eworkspace application 105provides integration points so that other applications can subscribe tothe information produced within the existing workspace site. Featuressuch as the editable home page option 997 (FIG. 9) allow the workspacesite to be an engine behind an application that is developed using othertechnologies but the information is made available for use to the otherapplication from the workspace site. Accordingly, the workspace site canbe used to publish content. Similarly, links to the document repository1010 on the workspace site can be used to display and manage othercontent that may be difficult for the operators of an external site tofacilitate. By using the collaborative workspace system 100, operatorsof other applications and web sites can be helped with management ofcontent used by these applications/sites without having advanced HTMLskills. In this way, the eworkspace application 105 can be considered anengine for static web sites to provide dynamic functionality byutilizing integration points provided in a workspace site produced byeworkspace application 105.

The flowchart of FIG. 33 shows the functionality of a representativeimplementation of one embodiment of the collaborative workspace system.With regard to all flow charts described herein, each block represents amodule, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or moreexecutable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). It should also be noted that in some alternateimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved.

In this particular process, settings and preferences to be used inproducing a web site for the user are received (3310) in response touser prompts. For example, a user that has been assigned to be a localadministrator to a workgroup site may specify such settings andpreferences using a web interface to the eworkspace application 105.Also, assigned access levels are received (3320) in response to userprompts requesting the user to to assign access levels to visitors tothe web site that determine which functions of the site are enabled whena visitor visits the web site. Accordingly, the access levels may beassigned using a web interface to the eworkspace application 105, insome embodiments. As a result, a web site is built (3330) in accordancewith the settings, preferences, and access levels defined by the user.In some embodiments, a web page of the web site may be dynamicallycreated after a web server 151 receives a request for the web page byfollowing a framework established by the eworkspace application 105 andcustomizing the page according to the settings, preferences, and accessrights defined by the user.

Next, FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a processfor facilitating network communications. As shown by block 3410, a useris prompted to specify settings and preferences to be used in producinga web site. The user uses a web interface to an eworkspace applicationexecuted by a server 151 to make the selections. Accordingly, the useris also prompted (3420) to assign access levels to visitors to the website that determine which functions of the web site are enabled while avisitor is visiting the web site. For example, a particular user may beassigned a role of being a member to the site. Therefore, when the uservisits the web site, functions will be enabled for the visitor that havebeen established for members of the site. Likewise, guests to the sitethat who are not members to the site may not be allowed to access somefeatures of the site. After the user provides his or her input, a website is built (3440) in accordance with the user's input. In buildingthe web site, integration points are provided (3450) within the web siteto allow for the supplying of web site content to other web sites andexternal applications (e.g., via RSS feeds). Also, the web site is builtsuch that exiting enterprise directory information is leveraged (3460)and used to authenticate visitors to the web site, amongst other uses.After the web site is produced, prompts are provided within a web pageof the site for specifying (3470) an address to an external web sitethat is referenced within web pages of the web site as a home page tothe web site. This is one way in which an external web site can beintegrated with the web site built using the present process. Managementtools are also provided (3480) in web pages of the web site that allowan administrator to perform various administrative functions, such asassigning users to a team that have different access rights than usersthat are not assigned to the team or allowing a user with administrativeprivileges to edit and delete content provided on the web site, amongstothers.

Advantageously, embodiments of the present disclosure provides a uniqueassemblage of functions in a workgroup site produced by the eworkspaceapplication. For example, desktop publishing is provided via a workgroupsite that delivers messages in a variety of ways. Syndication of dataand integration with existing web sites is also provided along more thanone distribution channel of a workgroup site. Integration withenterprise systems and enterprise directory systems is provided.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations,merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of thedisclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to theabove-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from thespirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications andvariations are intended to be included herein within the scope of thisdisclosure.

1. A system for facilitating network communications, comprising: aserver-based application configured to produce web pages for a web sitein accordance with input received from a user; and an interface to theserver-based application receiving selections of features which areavailable to be added to the web site in response to user prompts and toset access rights on which features are to be available to differentroles of users.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface allowsthe user to activate features by clicking on radio buttons associatedwith the features.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the web siteprovides integration points for supplying information to externalapplications.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface furtherreceives a home page address that is to be provided as a link on webpages of the web site.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the differentroles of users comprise guests, members, and at least one administrator.6. The system of claim 1, wherein the web site is designed to access anenterprise directory populated with information of users of the website.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the web site provides managementtools for enabling the user to configure the features of the web siteand set the access rights after the web site is initially produced. 8.The system of claim 3, the integration points comprising an RSS feed. 9.A method for facilitating network communications, comprising the stepsof: receiving settings and preferences to for producing a web site;receiving access levels assignments for visitors to the web site thatdetermine which functions are enabled when a visitor visits the web sitevia the web interface; and building the web site in accordance with thesettings, preferences, and access levels.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising the step of: enabling differing views of the webbased on the access level assigned to the visitor that is currentlyvisiting the web site.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising thestep of: providing management tools in the web site that allow anadministrator to the web site to assign users to a team that havedifferent access rights than users that are not assigned to the team.12. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: leveragingexiting enterprise directory information to authenticate visitors to theweb site.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:providing integration points within the web site for supplying web sitecontent to other web sites and external applications.
 14. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising the step of: receiving an address to anexternal web site that is referenced within web pages of the web site asa home page to the web site.
 15. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising the step of: enabling management tools to be displayed forvisitors with administrative privileges within the assigned accessrights, the management tools allowing a visitor to edit and deletecontent provided on the web site.
 16. The method of claim 9, wherein thesettings, preferences, and access levels are user-specified.
 17. Acomputer readable medium having a computer program for facilitatingnetwork communications, the program having instructions for performingthe steps of: receiving settings and preferences to for producing a website; receiving access levels assignments for visitors to the web sitethat determine which functions are enabled when a visitor visits the website via the web interface; and building the web site in accordance withthe settings, preferences, and access levels.
 18. The computer readablemedium of claim 17, the program comprising the step of: enablingmanagement tools to be displayed for visitors with administrativeprivileges within the assigned access rights, the management toolsallowing a visitor to edit and delete content provided on the web site.19. The computer readable medium of claim 17, the program comprising thestep of: providing management tools in the web site that allow anadministrator to the web site to assign users to a team that havedifferent access rights than users that are not assigned to the team.20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, the program comprising thestep of: leveraging exiting enterprise directory information toauthenticate visitors to the web site.
 21. The computer readable mediumof claim 18, the program comprising the steps of: providing integrationpoints within the web site for supplying web site content to other websites and external applications; and receiving an address to an externalweb site that is to be referenced within web pages of the web site as ahome page to the web site.
 22. The computer readable medium of claim 18,wherein the settings, preferences, and access levels are user-specified